Means for closing doors



1956 E. s. LINDSEY MEANS FOR CLOSING DOORS Filed June 5, 1954 Inventor United States Patent 2,735,675 MEANS FOR CLOSING DOORS Eric Stanley Lindsey, London, England, assignor to Caston Barber Limited, London, England, a British company Application June 3, 1954, Serial No. 434,219 4 Claims. (Cl. 26869) This invention relates to means for closing doors by means of a dead weight closing gear and has particular reference to fire resisting doors constituted by hollow steel heat insulated panels whose weight necessitates assistance in closing them quickly in case of emergency.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved construction or arrangement applicable to doors of the kind above referred to and designed so as to reduce the closing weight applied during the latter part of the closing operation and thereby prevent slamming of the door.

According to the invention, means for closing a door of the kind above referred to comprises two or more slideable weights so arranged that during the closing movement of the door, one or a number of weights becomes inoperative, leaving the completion of the closing movement to be effected by one weight alone.

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section showing a door closing arrangement constructed according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in section, taken at right angles to Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is an elevation similar to Fig. l but showing the parts in the positions occupied when the door is closed.

In the construction illustrated, a door a moveable about vertical hinges b is connected to slideable weights 0 and d mounted in a vertical guide tube e fixed to the door framework 1 closely adjacent the door hinges b. The door is connected by a flexible cable or chain g passing over a pulley h to the weights slideable in the tubular guide 2. The two sections 0 and d, into which the slideable weight is divided are spaced apart by a tube i which is not necessarily fixed to the Weights or to either of them. The flexible cable g passes freely through a central passage k in the upper weight 0, through the tube 1 and is fixed to an eye I in the upper portion of the lower weight d. Passing through the walls of the tubular guide e are two stops m which may take the form of set screws and these stops are positioned between the two weights 0 and d.

With the arrangement above described, and when the door is fully open, the weights 0 and d occupy their highest position, (shown in Fig. 1) and the full weight is available to overcome the initial resistance of the door and to accelerate its movement towards the closed position. During the closing movement, the weights c and d slide down the tubular guide e until the point is reached when the two stops in engage underneath the upper weight a, which is thereby rendered inoperative, leaving the lower weight a alone to complete the closing movement of the door. The total effect of this an rangement is to provide a heavy weight combining the weights c and d for the starting up movement of the heavy door from the rest position and, thereafter, when the door has attained a good positive motion towards closing, the weight is reduced and the movement completed by the weight d only thereby preventing slamming on completion of closing. The parts are then in the positions shown in Fig. 3. To provide the heavy starting weight it is desirable that the upper weight c shall be substantially heavier than the lower weight d.

The arrangement described above has the further advantage that when the door is part of the equipment on a ship, closing of the door is ensured even when the ship heels over to say, an angle of 5. In these circumstances, the heavy weight is essential to start the door on its movement, but the stop devices m prevent the door from slamming on completion of its closing movement.

In the case of doors which comprise two operating sections which meet at the centre on closing, two separate arrangements such as that described above can be provided, one to operate each door.

The invention is not restricted to the employment of two weights as above described but may include three or more with appropriate stop devices to decrease the operating weight as the door approaches its closed position.

I claim:

1. Means for closing a door by dead weight closing gear, comprising a tubular guide, upper and lower weights slidably mounted within said guide, a flexible connection attached to and extending from the door freely through the upper weight to an anchorage on the lower weight, an open-ended tube for supporting the upper weight from the lower weight when the door is open, and stop means carried by said guide to arrest the movement of the upper weight at a predetermined point in the door closure movement.

2. Means for closing a door by dead weight closing gear, comprising a vertical tubular guide, an upper weight having a central vertical passage therein and slidably mounted in said guide, a lower weight slidably mounted in said guide below the upper weight, a flexible connection fixed at one end to the door and passing freely through said paassage in the upper weight to an anchorage on the lower weight, an open-ended tube disposed between said weights, and means for limiting the downward movement of the upper weight.

3. Means for closing a door by dead weight closing gear, comprising a vertical tubular guide, an upper weight slidably mounted in said guide, a lower relatively lighter weight slidably mounted in said guide, an open-ended tube disposed between said weights and concentrically therewith, a flexible connector attached to the door and extending from the door through the upper weight to the lower weight, and stop members projecting inwardly in said guide to limit downward movement of the upper weight.

4. Means for closing a door by dead Weight closing gear, including a tubular guide, upper and lower weights slidably mounted in said guide, the upper Weight being heavier than the lower weight and freely slidable in said guide, a flexible connector attached to the door and to the lower weight and passing freely through the upper weight, a tubular member through which the upper weight, bears upon the lower Weight to render both weights operative during the first part of the closing movement of the door, and stop devices positioned to arrest movement of the upper weight and thereby enable the concluding part of the closing movement of the door to be effected by the relatively lighter lower weight alone.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

